Getting to know my new bunnies

[MoonSpiritMom]

Ok so its only day2..3? of having these rabbits.

I was laid out sick yesterday so my kids took care of them for me. and when i say laid out.. i mean could barely stay awake longer than an hour, could hardly move everything hurt so badly, dying from the pain.. yeah that type of sick.

Anyhoo... Oldest and I went out to clean out the cages today.. i want to get into the habit of them seeing me and getting into the rhythm of cleaning out the cages every 3-4 days ish.. the cages are huge.. and they are completely wood so they start stinking faster then a wire bottom cage would... at least i think so. it totally smelled like rabbits in there today.. lol

Anyways... The buck.. who i have Dubbed "Big Guy" is really easy to handle... my friend who owner him before me said she handled him alot as a kit so he was used to it. such a snuggler! i gave him to my oldest to hold while i did his cage.. no issues.

Went to do the Does... now i named them One and Two. I did Two's cage first, but she's super timid so although i could pick her up and hold her, i could tell she was not comfortable and i didn't want to stress her out anymore then needed. so i put her into the large animal carrier i have while i cleaned. No big issues. Did One's cage last.. Now this little doe is not as timid but she's skittish. I grabbed by the scruff to get a good hold of her then scooped her up with a hand under her bum. I thought i had a good hold of her and i was going to cuddle her... yeah NOPE. scratched me really good and tried to jump away! lol we managed to keep a hold of her and put her in the carrier. then went to put her back in her cage and she tried to jump again... lol

So.. we have some work to do with the does.

Any suggestions other then just spending time with them?

 

[dfr1973]

I am working on pretty much the same, and I find cabbage leaves or mustard leaves help with two of my three. The third one, the regular sized doe I named Brooke ... she is just plain skittish and scared. I got another scratch that bled again this morning, but I can tell by the panicked look in her eye she isn't doing it out of malice - she's just that scared. I figure it may take a while, since she looks full grown.

 

[EnglishSpot]

I have a doe who does not appreciate being around people (but she's not mean, she doesn't want anything to do with people, she likes being a rabbit) but she is susceptible to bribery!! She only gets treats if she gets them from my fingers. It has made a difference in the levels of her skittishness.

 

[Marinea]

Time and treats. New environment, new cages, new humans. It's gonna take time.

 

[imajpm]

I have a doe who does not appreciate being around people (but she's not mean, she doesn't want anything to do with people, she likes being a rabbit) but she is susceptible to bribery!! She only gets treats if she gets them from my fingers. It has made a difference in the levels of her skittishness.

Yep me too! I have a very skittish NZW doe who now comes up for a head scratch. She only does that because I started to hold her pellets at the door until she did lol. First we started with a light touch, and months later we are up to petting. She still does not volunteer herself if there is no food involved but she is much much better!